Common OVF Tool (COT)¶

> cot --help
usage:
  cot --help
  cot --version
  cot help <command>
  cot <command> --help
  cot <options> <command> <command-options>

Common OVF Tool (COT), version 1.2.1
Copyright (C) 2013-2015 the COT project developers.
A tool for editing Open Virtualization Format (.ovf, .ova) virtual
appliances, with a focus on virtualized network appliances such as the
Cisco CSR 1000V and Cisco IOS XRv platforms.

optional arguments:
  -h, --help        show this help message and exit
  -V, --version     show program's version number and exit
  -f, --force       Perform requested actions without prompting for
                    confirmation
  -q, --quiet       Quiet output and logging (warnings and errors only)
  -v, --verbose     Verbose output and logging
  -vv, -d, --debug  Debug (most verbose) output and logging

commands:
  <command>
    add-disk        Add a disk image to an OVF package and map it as a
                    disk in the guest environment
    add-file        Add a file to an OVF package
    deploy          Create a new VM on the target hypervisor from the
                    given OVF
    edit-hardware   Edit virtual machine hardware properties of an OVF
    edit-product    Edit product info in an OVF
    edit-properties
                    Edit environment properties of an OVF
    info            Generate a description of an OVF package
    inject-config   Inject a configuration file into an OVF package
    help            Print help for a command

Note: some subcommands rely on external software tools, including:
* qemu-img (http://www.qemu.org/)
* mkisofs  (http://cdrecord.org/)
* ovftool  (https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/ovf/)
* fatdisk  (http://github.com/goblinhack/fatdisk)
* vmdktool (http://www.freshports.org/sysutils/vmdktool/)

> cot info -h
usage:
  cot info --help
  cot info [-b | -v] PACKAGE [PACKAGE ...]

Show a summary of the contents of the given OVF(s) and/or OVA(s).

positional arguments:
  PACKAGE [PACKAGE ...]
                        OVF descriptor(s) and/or OVA file(s) to describe

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -b, --brief           Brief output (shorter)
  -v, --verbose         Verbose output (longer)

> cot edit-product --help
usage:
  cot edit-product --help
  cot <opts> edit-product PACKAGE [-o OUTPUT] [-v SHORT_VERSION]
                          [-V FULL_VERSION]

Edit product information attributes of the given OVF or OVA

positional arguments:
  PACKAGE               OVF descriptor or OVA file to edit

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
                        Name/path of new OVF/OVA package to create instead
                        of updating the existing OVF
  -v SHORT_VERSION, --version SHORT_VERSION
                        Software short version string, such as "15.3(4)S"
                        or "5.2.0.01I"
  -V FULL_VERSION, --full-version FULL_VERSION
                        Software long version string, such as "Cisco IOS-
                        XE Software, Version 15.3(4)S"

> cot add-disk --help
usage:
  cot add-disk --help
  cot <opts> add-disk DISK_IMAGE PACKAGE [-o OUTPUT] [-f FILE_ID]
                      [-t {harddisk,cdrom}] [-c {ide,scsi}] [-s SUBTYPE]
                      [-a ADDRESS] [-d DESCRIPTION] [-n DISKNAME]

Add or replace a disk image in the specified OVF or OVA. If the specified
disk image, controller/address, file-id, and/or instance match an existing
entry in the OVF, will replace the existing disk with the provided file
(prompting for confirmation if --force was not set); otherwise, will
create a new disk entry.

positional arguments:
  DISK_IMAGE            Disk image file to add to the package
  PACKAGE               OVF descriptor or OVA file to edit

general options:
  -h, --help            Show this help message and exit
  -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
                        Name/path of new OVF/OVA package to create instead
                        of updating the existing OVF

disk-related options:
  -f FILE_ID, --file-id FILE_ID
                        Disk image file ID string within the OVF package
                        (default: use disk image filename)
  -t {harddisk,cdrom}, --type {harddisk,cdrom}
                        Disk type (default: files ending in
                        .vmdk/.raw/.qcow2/.img will use harddisk and files
                        ending in .iso will use cdrom)

controller-related options:
  -c {ide,scsi}, --controller {ide,scsi}
                        Disk controller type (default: determined by disk
                        type and platform)
  -a ADDRESS, --address ADDRESS
                        Address of the disk, such as "1:0". Requires that
                        --controller be explicitly set. (default: use
                        first unused address on the controller)
  -s SUBTYPE, --subtype SUBTYPE
                        Disk controller subtype such as "virtio" or
                        "lsilogic".

descriptive options:
  -d DESCRIPTION, --description DESCRIPTION
                        Description of this disk (optional)
  -n DISKNAME, --name DISKNAME
                        Name of this disk (default: "Hard disk #" or "CD-
                        ROM #" as appropriate)

> cot add-file --help
usage:
  cot add-file --help
  cot <opts> add-file FILE PACKAGE [-o OUTPUT] [-f FILE_ID]

Add or replace a file in the given OVF. If the specified file and/or file-
id match existing package contents, will replace it (prompting for
confirmation if --force was not set); otherwise, will create a new file
entry.

positional arguments:
  FILE                  File to add to the package
  PACKAGE               Package, OVF descriptor or OVA file to edit

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
                        Name/path of new VM package to create instead of
                        updating the existing package
  -f FILE_ID, --file-id FILE_ID
                        File ID string within the package (default: same
                        as filename)

> cot edit-hardware --help
usage:
  cot edit-hardware --help
  cot <opts> edit-hardware PACKAGE [-o OUTPUT] -v TYPE [TYPE2 ...]
  cot <opts> edit-hardware PACKAGE [-o OUTPUT] [-p PROFILE [PROFILE2 ...]]
                           [-c CPUS] [-m MEMORY] [-n NICS]
                           [--nic-type {e1000,virtio,vmxnet3}]
                           [-N NETWORK [NETWORK2 ...]] [-M MAC1 [MAC2 ...]]
                           [--nic-names NAME1 [NAME2 ...]] [-s SERIAL_PORTS]
                           [-S URI1 [URI2 ...]]
                           [--scsi-subtype SCSI_SUBTYPE]
                           [--ide-subtype IDE_SUBTYPE]

Edit hardware properties of the specified OVF or OVA

positional arguments:
  PACKAGE               OVF descriptor or OVA file to edit

general options:
  -h, --help            Show this help message and exit
  -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
                        Name/path of new OVF/OVA package to create instead
                        of updating the existing OVF
  -v TYPE [TYPE2 ...], --virtual-system-type TYPE [TYPE2 ...]
                        Change virtual system type(s) supported by this
                        OVF/OVA package.
  -p PROFILE [PROFILE2 ...], --profiles PROFILE [PROFILE2 ...]
                        Make hardware changes only under the given
                        configuration profile(s). (default: changes apply
                        to all profiles)

computational hardware options:
  -c CPUS, --cpus CPUS  Set the number of CPUs.
  -m MEMORY, --memory MEMORY
                        Set the amount of RAM. (Examples: "4096MB", "4GB")

network interface options:
  -n NICS, --nics NICS  Set the number of NICs.
  --nic-type {e1000,virtio,vmxnet3}
                        Set the hardware type for all NICs. (default: do
                        not change existing NICs, and new NICs added will
                        match the existing type.)
  -N NETWORK [NETWORK2 ...], --nic-networks NETWORK [NETWORK2 ...]
                        Specify a series of one or more network names to
                        map NICs to. If N network names are specified, the
                        first (N-1) NICs will be mapped to the first (N-1)
                        networks and all remaining NICs will be mapped to
                        the Nth network.
  -M MAC1 [MAC2 ...], --mac-addresses-list MAC1 [MAC2 ...]
                        Specify a list of MAC addresses for the NICs. If N
                        MACs are specified, the first (N-1) NICs will
                        receive the first (N-1) MACs, and all remaining
                        NICs will receive the Nth MAC
  --nic-names NAME1 [NAME2 ...]
                        Specify a list of one or more NIC names or
                        patterns to apply to NIC devices. If N
                        names/patterns are specified, the first (N-1) NICs
                        will receive the first (N-1) names and remaining
                        NICs will be named based on the name or pattern of
                        the Nth item. See examples.

serial port options:
  -s SERIAL_PORTS, --serial-ports SERIAL_PORTS
                        Set the number of serial ports.
  -S URI1 [URI2 ...], --serial-connectivity URI1 [URI2 ...]
                        Specify a series of connectivity strings (URIs
                        such as "telnet://localhost:9101") to map serial
                        ports to. If fewer URIs than serial ports are
                        specified, the remaining ports will be unmapped.

disk and disk controller options:
  --scsi-subtype SCSI_SUBTYPE
                        Set resource subtype (such as "lsilogic" or
                        "virtio") for all SCSI controllers. If an empty
                        string is provided, any existing subtype will be
                        removed.
  --ide-subtype IDE_SUBTYPE
                        Set resource subtype (such as "virtio") for all
                        IDE controllers. If an empty string is provided,
                        any existing subtype will be removed.

Examples:
  cot edit-hardware csr1000v.ova --output csr1000v_custom.ova \
        --profile 1CPU-4GB --cpus 1 --memory 8GB
    Create a new profile named "1CPU-8GB" with 1 CPU and 8 gigabytes of RAM

  cot edit-hardware input.ova -o output.ova --nic-names "mgmt" "eth{0}"
    Rename the NICs in the output OVA as 'mgmt', 'eth0', 'eth1', 'eth2'...

  cot edit-hardware input.ova -o output.ova --nic-names "Ethernet0/{10}"
    Rename the NICs in the output OVA as 'Ethernet0/10', 'Ethernet0/11',
    'Ethernet0/12', etc.

> cot edit-properties --help
usage:
  cot edit-properties --help
  cot <opts> edit-properties PACKAGE -p KEY1=VALUE1 [KEY2=VALUE2 ...]
                             [-o OUTPUT]
  cot <opts> edit-properties PACKAGE -c CONFIG_FILE [-o OUTPUT]
  cot <opts> edit-properties PACKAGE [-o OUTPUT]

Configure environment properties of the given OVF or OVA. The user may
specify key-value pairs as command-line arguments or may provide a config-
file to read from. If neither are specified, the program will run
interactively.

positional arguments:
  PACKAGE               OVF descriptor or OVA file to edit

general options:
  -h, --help            Show this help message and exit
  -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
                        Name/path of new OVF/OVA package to create instead
                        of updating the existing OVF

property setting options:
  -c CONFIG_FILE, --config-file CONFIG_FILE
                        Read configuration CLI from this text file and
                        generate generic properties for each line of CLI
  -p KEY1=VALUE1 [KEY2=VALUE2 ...], --properties KEY1=VALUE1 [KEY2=VALUE2 ...]
                        Set the given property key-value pair(s). This
                        argument may be repeated as needed to specify
                        multiple properties to edit.

> cot inject-config -h
usage:
  cot inject-config --help
  cot <opts> inject-config PACKAGE -c CONFIG_FILE [-o OUTPUT]
  cot <opts> inject-config PACKAGE -s SECONDARY_CONFIG_FILE [-o OUTPUT]
  cot <opts> inject-config PACKAGE -c CONFIG_FILE -s SECONDARY_CONFIG_FILE
                           [-o OUTPUT]

Add one or more "bootstrap" configuration file(s) to the given OVF or OVA.

positional arguments:
  PACKAGE               Package, OVF descriptor or OVA file to edit

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
                        Name/path of new VM package to create instead of
                        updating the existing package
  -c CONFIG_FILE, --config-file CONFIG_FILE
                        Primary configuration text file to embed
  -s SECONDARY_CONFIG_FILE, --secondary-config-file SECONDARY_CONFIG_FILE
                        Secondary configuration text file to embed
                        (currently only supported in IOS XRv for admin
                        config)

> cot deploy --help
usage:
  cot deploy --help
  cot <opts> deploy PACKAGE esxi ...

Deploy a virtual machine to a specified server.

positional arguments:
  PACKAGE               OVF descriptor or OVA file
  hypervisors supported:
    esxi                Deploy to ESXi, vSphere, or vCenter

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit